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Looks like the railways are heading back to nationalisation after the catastrophic years of privatisation. Thank god for that. Shame the taxpayer had to piss away endless billions to line the pockets of private corporations first tho.

Network Rail will today announce that it is taking all maintenance on Britain's railways in-house, axing more than ?1.3bn of private contracts in a move likely to be viewed as a step towards "renationalisation" of the system. The not-for-profit infrastructure company will tell its seven engineering contractors that they will no longer be allowed to carry out everyday work. However, some major renewal projects to replace stretches of track will remain in private hands.

Network Rail is likely to insist that the decision is motivated by a desire to cut costs. But it will delight unions and passengers' groups, who have raised questions about the safety and reliability of private contractors' work.

Bob Crow, general secretary of the RMT rail union, said: "This is something we've been campaigning for for seven years. It could prove to be the death knell for renewals as well. More of the jigsaw is coming together for renationalisation of the whole industry."

Privatising maintenance work was a key element in the Conservatives' sell-off of the railways in 1996. But fears about a possible conflict between safety and profit gained momentum after the Hatfield crash four years later. The ac cident was caused by a broken rail on track maintained by Balfour Beatty. Criminal proceedings began this year against 12 people who were working at the time for either Balfour Beatty or Railtrack.